Foldables. High school teachers may have never heard of these. Many elementary teachers, on the other hand, know exactly what I am talking about. Why is it that high school teachers assume that note-taking has to be complicated and boring? Don’t get me wrong. Teaching students how to take notes is important. However, how to actively engage students in the process of learning is even more important. Sometimes, we get caught up with preparing students for post-secondary education that we tend to forget how to have “fun” while we still have them in high school. So in comes foldables – 3 dimensional, interactive graphic organizers.
The only foldable I ever used (and knew about) was the flip-flap booklet which I used in World History when comparing the Russian Revolution with Animal Farm (click to access lesson plan). My students would create these then give to the English teachers to use when they taught Animal Farm. Fast-forward fifteen years later… when I was looking for additional ways for my students to take notes, I thought about the flip-flap booklet but knew it would not totally fit into my curriculum. I knew there had to be other foldables out there. With a little searching, I came across two different resources: 1) Dinah Zike’s Foldables and 2) Dinah Zike’s High School Economics Reading and Study Skills. These are both excellent resources to use in any classroom. So, how did I change the way I gave notes, even to my AP GOVERNMENT AND AP ECONOMICS students? Keep reading…
Let me say that foldables have not completely replaced note-taking; they have, though, replaced much of my mundane content activities . My students are so used to them that when I hold up a stack of manila paper and say “you know what time it i!” they say “foldable time!” (you gotta have some fun, you know). Some students will complain about doing the foldables, but I believe, deep down, they enjoy creating something while at the same time taking and organizing their notes. Once you learn how to do a few foldables, you will eventually create your own. Watch the following video:
This was a foldable my AP Government students recently completed. In all honesty, I created this foldable while playing around with paper that morning. As I was folding here and there, it just happened to create this example which turned out to be perfect for what we were learning that day in class – Anti-Federalists and Federalists and the compromises made during the Constitution Convention. Instead of the students using my PowerPoint to get their notes, I decided to use a resource from Mount Vernon – Issues at the Constitutional Convention. I then saw a resource that summarized 6 key players at the Constitutional Convention and decided to use that for the inside of the foldable (was not my original plan but worked beautifully). After walking students through how to create the foldable and helping them define Federalists and Anti-Federalists, I then allowed them to work together to read through the resources to get their information. That day, the students received a completion grade. The next class day, however, they took an opennotes quiz on the foldable in order for me to check for accuracy of information. They were allowed to take this opennotes quiz twice, averaging the two grades together. Why? So they can correct their notes then retake to try and pull up the first grade. The purpose of the grade is not to punish the students (although I do want to hold them accountable) but for them to learn through the process.
Another example is using a foldable to helped students take notes on the organization of the Constitution and the 27 Amendments. I could have easily made the students complete a notes handout. However, I decided to create this foldable to not only actively engage the students while I was teaching through the PowerPoint but to have everything together in order to see the “bigger picture.” The students completed the foldable while I discussed the organization of the Constitution (click to access PowerPoint). After discussing the 7 Articles (along with the amendment process), the students then flipped the foldable over and numbered 1-27. They then cut slits and looked up summaries of each amendment. This will help students learn the 27 Amendments. Learning is not staring at a sheet of paper (or computer screen). Students have to be actively engaged in the process. I explained to them they need to call out the amendments to themselves (to hear themselves identify each amendment) or learn through tactile placement (write on paper, cut up, and match them) or use the foldable (silently review in your head then open flap to see if you are correct). If they can’t do a tactile placement or hear themselves summarize each amendment, then they do not know the amendments.
There are numerous ways to use foldables. I love them! The students sometimes laugh at my love for them. I use them for AP Economics (Micro and Macro), AP Government, and Geography (look for one for 5 themes of geography). They may seem intimidating at first; however, with a little practice, you can transform your students’ learning from a passive, remote process to one that actively engages each student.
